Applicants for dual citizenship under Republic Act 9225 need not worry about getting their birth certificates from the National Statistics Office (NSO) in the Philippines anymore, the Philippine Consulate General announced over the weekend.

Under the new rules recently issued by the Bureau of Immigration (BI), documents like a birth certificate issued by the local civil registrar, an old Philippine passport, voter's identification, marriage contract, and other substitute documents may be admitted in lieu of the NSO certified birth certificate, thus, removing one major source of frustration for dual citizenship applicants.

The rules will take effect Nov. 1, or 15 days after the required publication in two newspapers of general circulation, the Consulate said.

The approval of these rules is a much-awaited development to the Filipino-American community, many of whom have encountered difficulties in obtaining their NSO certified birth certificates due to cumbersome application procedures.

"A lot of our kababayans, especially the elderly, will be truly grateful to the BI for recognizing their predicament in securing documents from the Philippines," Consul General Maria Rowena Mendoza Sanchez said.

The San Francisco Consulate has so far processed close to 3,000 applications for dual citizenship-more than half of the worldwide total-since R.A. 9225 took effect in September 2003.

"But the figure could have been much higher were it not for the NSO certified birth certificate requirement in the old guidelines which discouraged many applicants," the Consul General noted.

Aside from waiving the NSO certified birth certificate requirement, the new rules now include provisions dealing with "retention" of Philippine citizenship, name changes, and the issuance of identification certificates (ICs) by Philippine embassies and consulates, which was not previously authorized by the BI.

Other changes include: payment of $25 for every minor beneficiary child included in the application, reducing the number of required photos from three to two, and the requirement for the applicant to submit his or her certificate of naturalization.

But the reaction of many to these changes is one of approval, since the NSO certified birth certificate is considered the biggest stumbling block in the process.

"With these changes, we expect to be swamped with new applications from San Francisco and the Bay Area to areas outside, from Alaska to Colorado. But we won't mind attending to all of these, as long as the aspirations of many to be called Filipinos once more shall have been realized," Sanchez said.

Pursuant to these changes, the Consulate has started to revise its forms and will be releasing a new set of "FAQs" (frequently asked questions) to guide would-be applicants shortly.

As a result of increased dual citizenship applications, the Consulate General expects the number of overseas absentee voting (OAV) registrants to pick up, as dual citizens are considered to be among the "most enthusiastic" in exercising their civil and political rights.